As the Sunsets on the Past
by jturne709
Summary: Sunset Shimmer returns to Equestria for some long overdue closure. edited by FabulouslyCynical
1. A Special Letter

As the Sunsets on the Past

Written by Joey Turner

Edited by Winnie Huang 

Another quiet day was all that could be heard around Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle in Ponyville. Said princess was busy with one of her favorite pastimes, re-re-RE-organizing her entire collection of Daring Do novels.

"Good. Now first it's the Sapphire Stone, then the Griffon's Goblet–" Twilight paused, looking nervous. "Oh, I always have trouble with this next part because the Marked Thief of Marapore, The Eternal Flower, and the Forbidden City of Clouds were all published at the same time! Hmm… Maybe I should just organize by story progression. What do you two think?" She turned towards the two figures locked in an intense card game.

Spike had come down to the castle's library to help re-organize the shelves, and Pinkie Pie wanted to see if she could borrow one of the castle's recipe books… That, plus there was a party cannon somewhere in the library that she had forgotten to clean up. Twilight ended up taking over the re-organizing job, so Spike and Pinkie Pie were waiting until she was done to look for that party cannon. While they waited, the two started up an intense game of Pony Poker; and so far, Pinkie had won the past few games. But Spike was sure this next hand would give him the victory.

Spike looked at his cards and smirked. It was the moment of truth. "Pair of sevens!"

Pinkie didn't even flinch. "Three eights. I win!"

"Darn it," whined Spike. "How do you do always win this game?!"

"It's a little trick I know, Spikey! Never play Pony Poker without your poker smile!"

Spike pouted. "…Best eight out of fifteen?"

"Um, hello?" Twilight yelled at the two. "I was asking you two if you knew how I should arrange these three Daring Do books!"

"Ooh, I know! Why don't you put them right next to that book that's vibrating?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Vibrating?" Twilight was confused, until she noticed the book Pinkie was talking about. Sure enough, a very familiar-looking journal was glowing and vibrating. "Oh my, gosh! Sunset Shimmer's journal; the one she used to use to write messages to Princess Celestia!"

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Sunset Shimmer?"

"Pinkie, you remember Sunset Shimmer, don't you?"

Pinkie smiled wide. "Of course I do, silly! She was Princess Celestia's bestest best student even before you, and she wanted to be all super magical and powerful, but when she didn't get what she wanted, she ran away into another world and turned these other versions of us into mean meanie pants! But then you came and blasted her with a friendship rainbow and turned her into a super friendly nice girl! And then when you went back to save the school from a bunch of evil siren meanie pants, she took her jacket off and helped you and the other us save the school!" Pinkie gasped, never stopping to take a breath as she finished her recap.

Twilight was amazed that Pinkie remembered all that, but smiled anyway. "That's her."

Pinkie drooped slightly. "Aww, I really wish I could've met her… You know, when she _wasn't_ trying to steal your crown."

"Yeah. It would've been nice to have her come with me back to Equestria to meet you all." Twilight lowered her head in sadness, but then instantly perked up "But at least we stay connected with these magic books. She tells me about how life at Canterlot High is going, and she even tells me some of the lessons about friendship she's learned."

"Nice," said Spike. "So it's kind of like she's _your_ student now."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, Spike." Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Either way, what do you think she wants this time?"

"Let's find out." Twilight opened the vibrating book, straight to a newly filled page, and began reading,

 _"Dear Twilight, how have you been? Sorry that it's been awhile since my last letter; a lot has been going on lately. A lot of good things, of course, so you don't have to worry about that. All the girls here miss you a lot, and send you their best._

 _"Twilight, I know it probably isn't my place to ask you this sort of thing, but I have something very important to ask you; summer break has come, and my friends have decided to travel with their families out of town for the next two months, so I was wondering… if I could come stay with you and your friends for the next two months?"_

As soon as Twilight read those last few lines, her jaw nearly fell to the floor.

Spike look concerned at Twilight's face. "Twilight, is everything ok?"

"…Guys, we've got to get the castle ready… Sunset Shimmer's coming to visit!" Twilight's smile of excitement rivaled even Pinkie Pie's. Right at that moment, a large explosion of confetti blasted out of the Daring Do section.

Pinkie Pie cheered, "Whoo-hoo! Sunset's coming to visit, AND we found that last party cannon! BEST! DAY! EVER!"


	2. Sunset's Arrival

In no time at all, Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike had gathered up the rest of their friends- Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash -and brought them to the library. There stood the Crystal Mirror, the magical device Sunset and Twilight used to travel to the other world. Thanks to Twilight's knowledge of science and magic, she had fixed the mirror so that the portal to the other world could be opened at anytime. Twilight had never had a reason to use the portal for a while. Until today, that is.

Of course nopony bothered to notice the portal after a while; they were too busy watching Twilight as she furiously scrubbed, swept, and brushed the floors, walls, and bookshelves. She was even going so far as to scrub Applejack's face.

Applejack finally spoke up, "So tell me, sugarcube; what happened after Sunset Shimmer wrote that letter to Twilight?"

"Well," Pinkie began, "after she got the letter, we were all super happy and dancing and going, 'Yippe! Sunset Shimmer's coming!' But then Twilight was all, 'Oh no! I've got to make the castle look all nice and clean before she gets here!' and then she wrote back to Sunset saying yes, and Sunset said she'd be here in three hours!"

Rarity queried, "And how long ago was that, darling?"

"Oh about two hours, 58 minutes, and 17 seconds ago," answered a frazzled Twilight, "Which means she's going to be here any minute and the castle still isn't ready!"

"Um, I don't mean to argue," squeaked Fluttershy, "but I think the castle's already more than ready for Sunset."

"I really must concur, darling," Rarity agreed, "I mean the floor is already so polished you can skate on it."

"Already on iiiiit!" Sang Pinkie Pie as she performed a triple-axel along the floor.

Twilight panted, "Maybe you're right. But just in case, I suggest we take a look at the checklist one last time." She brought up a large checklist with her magic, "Red carpet?"

Pinkie Pie held up a roll of red carpet. "Check! I even added a little surprise to it!"

Applejack rolled her eyes and smirked. "What's the surprise? Does confetti shoot out of that one too?"

"She knows me so well," Pinkie whispered to Fluttershy.

Twilight continued, "Speech?"

Spike displayed a large scroll, "Check!"

"Crown?"

Rarity levitated Twilight's crown, "Check and freshly polished by yours truly."

"Squeaky clean floor that you can eat dinner off of?" joked Rainbow Dash. "Check."

Twilight groaned, "Ha ha. Very funny, Rainbow Dash. I really want to give Sunset Shimmer a proper welcome!"

"Yeah, about that," continued Rainbow Dash. "I'm still not so sure I'm ready to be all friendly-friendly with Sunset Shimmer just yet."

"Why in the hay not, Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked, very confused.

"Well last time she was here, she stole Twilight's crown and tried to turn a bunch of teens into her own zombie army! How do you know she won't try something like that again? Remember when Discord got tricked into catching us for Tirek?"

Fluttershy glared at her loyal, yet slightly rude, pegasus friend. "That was different. Discord didn't know what he was doing, and Tirek took advantage of him. He felt so bad afterwards; that it took almost 50 cucumber sandwiches and 29 hugs from Harry the bear before he could forgive himself."

"And anyway," added Twilight, "Sunset Shimmer really has changed. I saw her change when she got hit by the magic of friendship, and she saved us all from the sirens. If it weren't for her, who knows what would have happened to Canterlot High?"

Everypony else in the room nodded in agreement.

"And after everything she went through after the Fall Formal, she deserves a second chance. And I think part of that includes the seven–"

"Eight," interrupted Spike.

"The eight of us," continued Twilight, "becoming friends. So, think we can give her a chance?"

The others thought for a second.

Applejack spoke up, "Aw, what the hay, I'm gonna tag along anyway. I'm in, sugarcube."

"I'm too nervoucited to say no," squeaked Pinkie Pie.

"I'm in if everypony else is in," added Fluttershy.

"If it means learning about the different fashions of another world, I shall be in as well," cheered Rarity.

"…Eh, alright. But _only_ because I know what happens when I don't listen to Twilight," sighed Rainbow Dash.

"Where else am I gonna go," teased Spike.

"Excellent," said Twilight happily. "Then I know that together, we can make Sunset Shimmer feel welcomed back in Equestria!"

Right as she said that, the portal started to pulse and ring, as though something was coming through. And just like that, a light amber unicorn with crimson and yellow striped mane, and a yellow and red shimmering sun cutie mark wearing teal saddlebags stumbled in, slipping on the freshly clean floor, and finally crashed right into Twilight.

The new unicorn groaned, "Ow! Ok, I forgot how painful that was! Mental note; never run through like that again." Once she and Twilight rubbed their respective heads, their eyes finally locked onto each other's eyes, finally noticing each other. While Twilight's mouth just hung open, the new unicorn put on an awkward smile. She spoke again, "Uh, h-h-hi, Twilight."

Twilight panicked, "Sunset Shimmer! You're here! Uh, uh, Pinkie! Roll out the carpet!"

"Rolling!" yelled Pinkie. And roll out the red carpet she did … Right in front of Twilight. Just like that, Pinkie's hidden party cannon went off, blasting Twilight in the face with confetti and sending her staggering backward right into Rarity and Spike! Thus lay Twilight on the floor, buried in her speech and gasping for breath.

Sunset Shimmer was concerned, "Are you ok, Twilight?"

Twilight frantically pushed the speech off her face, her crown hanging off her muzzle, "Who, me?" she asked very exhaustedly. "I'm fine. Yep, I'm just totally a-okay." She noticed the crown on her muzzle and levitated it on her head… upside down. She then hastily grabbed her speech, and began reading frantically from it. "On behalf _huff_ of me _huff_ , the Prin- _huff_ -cess of Friendship _huff_ , I wel- _huff_ –come you back to _huff_ Equestria, Sunset _huff_ Shimmer." Finally, Twilight just moaned in exhaustion and passed out.

Everypony, including Sunset Shimmer, looked at Twilight in concern as she passed out. "Nailed it!" squeaked Pinkie, breaking the awkward silence.


	3. First Impressions

As consciousness started returning to Twilight, she slowly started opening her eyes only to be greeted by a swarm of butterflies. "Ugh, what happened?" she groaned. "Why am I in Fluttershy's butterfly grove?" Right as she said that, the butterflies disbanded, revealing her seven friends looking worried at her, and they were all now in the dining room.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright," exclaimed a relieved Fluttershy.

"For Celestia's sake, darling, you gave us a scare when you passed out," scolded Rarity.

Twilight fidgeted her hooves awkwardly, "I overdid getting the castle ready again, didn't I?"

Sunset smirked, "Only a little. But it was nice… sort of."

Twilight was embarrassed, "Sorry. I guess I was just so excited about you coming here, that I got a little carried away with trying to get things ready for you."

Sunset looked around and smiled. "Well, you didn't have to go to so much trouble, Twilight. This place looks amazing! When you said you had your own castle, I didn't imagine it'd be this big… or clean! I don't think it could get any cleaner!"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash smirked knowingly at Twilight.

"Well, since I don't have to prepare anything anymore," Twilight slowly rose to her hooves, ran straight towards Sunset, and wrapped her hooves around her in a big hug. "It's just so great to see you, Sunset," smiled Twilight, "I've missed you so much!"

Sunset smiled warmly and returned the hug, "I've missed you too, Twilight."

A certain dragon cleared his throat loudly, "Uh, hello? I missed you too."

Sunset smiled again and wrapped her hoof around Spike, "It's good to see you too, Spike. It's a little weird seeing you as a dragon instead of a dog."

"Yeah, well I'll take being a dragon over being a dog any day… though I _do_ miss getting scratched behind the ears," Spike admitted awkwardly.

"Well, now that we're reconnected," Twilight began, as she addressed her five friends. "Sunset Shimmer, I think you know who these are; but I'd like you to meet my friends."

Sunset Shimmer looked nervously at the five friends in front of her. Each one of them gave her a friendly smile; even Rainbow Dash managed a smile while still keeping an eye on her. It hadn't even been that long ago since Sunset said goodbye to her friends in the other world, but it was still eerie seeing the pony versions of them standing right in front of her.

Taking a deep breath and imagining talking to her friends back at Canterlot High, Sunset finally spoke up. "Uh… hello everybody- er, everypony. It's really nice to mee-"

Before she could finish, she found herself being pile-driven into, and then pulled into an extra tight hug by Pinkie Pie. "Ooooh, it's just so super awesome to finally meet you, Sunny!"

Though her ribs were being partially crushed, even Sunset felt Pinkie's contagious smile crossing her own lips. "It's great to meet you too, Pinkie Pie. Wait, did you just call me 'Sunny?'"

"Yep-er-oonie! Short for Sunset, long for Sun. Duuh!" Sunset didn't know how to respond. Even the other world's Pinkie Pie called her 'Sunny', but she just didn't expect this Pinkie to do it also.

"Well howdy-doo, Ms. Shimmer," hollered Applejack, tipping her hat.

"Fabulous to finally meet you, darling," complimented Rarity.

"Um… hi," Fluttershy squeaked meekly. "It's very nice to meet you. Twilight told us so much about you."

"So much?" Sunset shrunk awkwardly after Fluttershy said that. She wiggled out of Pinkie's hug and looked very self-conscious. "Did uh… did Twilight mention anything specific?"

The air in the room felt very awkward now, "Uh… certainly not," fibbed Rarity. "Well, she did mention a few things… But uh, they were all _good_ things! Certainly not anything bad or… demonic-like." Fluttershy pitifully elbowed Rarity.

Sunset sighed, "Its ok. Just tell me; it's nothing I haven't heard before."

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck. "Twilight _maaaay_ have mentioned the part where you… Turned into a raging she-demon and tried to take over Equestria with a hypnotized army. But, uh… I bet you were an AWESOME looking demon!" Applejack elbowed Rainbow Dash fiercely.

"We didn't want to bring it up because we didn't want to make you think we didn't want to be friends with you," confessed Applejack.

"If it helps," chirped Pinkie Pie, "Twilight also talked about how you saved everyone at the school from turning into a bunch of cranky mean-meanie-pants!"

Sunset couldn't stay sad. "It does help, Pinkie Pie. And none of you have to worry; I'm not going to let what happened to me in the past ruin my chances of making new friends."

The awkwardness in the air finally subsided, and everypony sighed in relief. Sunset then remembered the teal saddlebags, "Oh, I just remembered; I brought you guys some things from CHS."

"Presents? Aww yeah!" Rainbow Dash hoof-pumped in the air.

"Well ain't that neighborly of ya," Applejack smiled, "but ya didn't have to, sugarcube."

"I know," Sunset continued, reaching for something in her bags with her magic. "But I promised my friends I would give you the presents they wanted to give. They said they wanted to give you all a piece of their world." She levitated two glass bottles of fizzy apple cider. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the other you's thought you two would really like these."

Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up as soon as she saw those bottles, "Is… is that-"

"Fizzy apple cider," Sunset finished. "The Apple family back at CHS make them by the crate full. The old me thought they were gross, but really they're very–"

Sunset, once again, didn't get to finish. Rainbow Dash swooped in and snagged one of the bottles. "You had me at cider!" Rainbow Dash hastily uncorked the bottle and chugged half the bottle down without a second thought. She shivered in delight, "It's like heaven in a bottle dipped in apple-flavored sunshine!" She slowly lowered to the floor, holding the bottle close to her heart and her lips. "it's almost as good as _our_ Applejack's!"

"Almost as good as Granny Smith's recipe?" Applejack was shocked. She grabbed the bottle from Sunset and uncorked the bottle. "Now let's not go crazy, Dash! Just because it's another version of my family, doesn't mean it's gonna taste…" Applejack took a large sip of the fizzy cider. Her eyes widened in awe and she looked as if she was mesmerized. "…Perfect." Applejack looked around hastily and continued drinking the cider.

"Glad you both like it," Sunset beamed. She then searched her bag again and levitated a large Tupperware out. "Pinkie Pie, the other you thought you'd really love these." She removed the lid revealing–

"CUPCAKES!" cheered Pinkie. She leaped four feet in the air but then halted mid-jump, seeming to hover in the air. "Wait… did she remember the special ingredient?"

Sunset winced slightly. "Well, she did tell me to mention that these are her special hot sauce-filled cupcakes for when she needs a snack?"

"She knows me so well!" Pinkie squealed. She then dove straight for the Tupperware, and dug into the cupcakes eagerly.

"Uh… You're welcome?" Sunset just shook her head, and dug into her other bag, pulling out a collection of books. "Fluttershy, these are some of the other Fluttershy's old zoology books. She thought you'd love learning about some of the different animals that they have."

Fluttershy's wings fluttered in joy as she grabbed the books. "Oh my! Thank you, Sunset Shimmer." She then gently opened one of the books and stopped at a page. "Oh my; the vampire bat?"

Applejack stopped drinking and glared, "What?! You mean that world has those apple-sucking varmints too?"

Fluttershy nodded, "But it says in these books that instead of drinking apple juice, they drink…" Fluttershy flew close to Applejack's ear and whispered into it. Applejack's eyes widened and her face became incredibly pale. Fluttershy was amazed by her readings. "Nature is so fascinating."

Digging into her bag again, Sunset pulled out a small jewelry case. "Rarity; the other you _insisted_ I give you these."

Rarity levitated the case in front of her and opened it, "Oh my, earrings?"

"Well clip-on earrings, actually. I was going to ask her for a necklace, but she said these would look perfect on those 'adorable pony ears.'"

Rarity inspected the earrings, "Hmm… the other me… **_was absolutely right!_**" Without a second thought, Rarity placed the clip-on earrings right on her ears. "It's like she was inside my head the whole time! These earrings, albeit false ones, will look absolutely stunning when I add them to my newest ensemble!" She grabbed hold of Sunset and pulled her into a tight embrace, nuzzling into her chest, "Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthank _thank you_ , Sunset Shimmer! Oh I can't possibly imagine how I can thank you, _or_ the other me, for this step up in fabulousness!"

"Uh, don't worry about it." Sunset replied, as she awkwardly wiggled out of Rarity's embrace. She looked awkwardly at Spike, "Uh… now Spike, I wanted to get you something really special to make up for kidnapping you the day we met, but Fluttershy suggested I give you… well…" Reluctantly, Sunset levitated a box out of her bag.

Spike looked at the box and instantly frowned. "Dog biscuits? Seriously?!"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack couldn't help but snicker.

Sunset was embarrassed. "Yeah, see Rarity and Fluttershy kind of forgot that you weren't actually a dog." Spike just looked insulted.

Pinkie looked at the box, "Oooh! Are those cheese and barbecue flavored?" She then immediately grabbed one out of the box, and ate it, ignoring the disgusted looks from her friends.

Spike peeked one eye open and grabbed a biscuit out of the box. He then slowly ate it, "Actually, these things aren't that bad," he admitted. Twilight couldn't help giggling herself.

Finally, Sunset turned to one special pony, "And to Twilight, this is a gift from all of us." she levitated a picture frame out of her bag, "This is our way of saying thanks. Thanks for bringing the students back together, thanks for teaching us more about friendship…" She paused and wiped her eyes. "And especially thank you for giving _me_ a second chance."

Twilight grabbed hold of the frame with her magic and gasped. The other ponies and Spike scooted right next to her and looked at the picture. Right in the frame was a picture of the last time Twilight was in the other world; she, Spike, Sunset Shimmer, and the others' counterparts all standing together during the sleepover party. Twilight couldn't help but tear up at the memory while the others just smiled warmly.

Sunset looked down and frowned sadly, "Are you sure you don't mind me staying for the next few months? I didn't know where else I could go back at the other world; and with the others out of town, it just felt like the perfect time to come home and…" Sunset was interrupted one last time; this time by a large, warm group hug from her friends. She melted in their embrace, knowing well what their answer was.


	4. Courage Lost

"…And after that little incident, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had to stay after school and pick up all the popped soccer balls!" Sunset giggled to Twilight as she and Spike lead her to her guest room later that night.

Twilight giggled back, "Well, nice to see things at Canterlot High are still going well." Suddenly, Twilight thought of something. "Hey, have the Dazzlings been causing any trouble since I left?"

Sunset looked surprised, "No actually. After we destroyed those pendants of theirs, no one's seen them. Not at school, not in the city, it's like they've disappeared."

Spike smirked, "Or, they're afraid the dynamic duo of Twilight and Sunset will come back and kick them to the curb again!"

Twilight rolled her eyes at her number 1 assistant's praises, "Still, I don't think they'll be much of a threat without those pendants. Anyways, we're here!"

They stopped right in front of one of the doors. Using her magic, Twilight opened the door revealing a large guest bedroom; complete with a single guest bed, a nightstand filled with books – compliments of Twilight - and one lone lamp, and a dresser bureau with a mirror. It matched the rest of the castle's large and intimidating look, but it still felt small enough to be a home for one pony.

"Do you like it?" Twilight asked nervously. "I know it's a little… big, but it was the smallest room I could find in the whole castle. You don't want to see my room."

"No, no, Twilight. It's perfect," reassured Sunset. "Once I unpack my stuff, it'll feel just like home. I just wish you didn't go through so much trouble for me."

"Trouble? Pfft, please," scoffed Twilight. "When have I _ever_ went throughso much trouble for somepony?" Sunset and Spike shot her a deadpan look. "Point taken. We really are happy you're here for the next few months. We have a LOT of stuff to do before you go back through the portal. The girls and I already started making an itinerary!"

"An itinerary?" Sunset was surprised.

"Of course," Twilight beamed, "We all want to be able to show you the most wonderful time you'll ever have here in Equestria! Pinkie Pie absolutely, _positively_ wants to throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville and Welcome Back to Equestria' party, Rarity says she has a fabulous idea for a dress she wanted to make for you, Fluttershy said that while you're here, you should have your very own pet that she could find for you, Rainbow Dash wants to take you to a Wonderbolts' show, and Applejack wants to show you the proper applebucking techniques on the apple farm!"

"Wow; that all sounds like so much fun!" Sunset exclaimed. "What about you two?"

"I wanted to show you my comic collection from the House of Enchanted Comics," said Spike.

Twilight only glared, "After what happened last time? Absolutely not!"

"What," defended Spike, "I wasn't gonna show her the Power Ponies comics this time… well, I wasn't gonna read the ending, anyway."

"Anyways," continued Twilight, "I wanted to take you to the Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum; it's coming back to Ponyville next week!"

Sunset's eyes widened in excitement. "Are you serious? I've been dying to go to that since I was a filly! One time, back at the School for Gifted Unicorns, Lemon Hearts and I argued in history class about which of the bells on his cloak was being put on display!"

Twilight smiled innocently, "It's the one on the far left."

"Ha! I knew it," gloated Sunset. All this sounded so exciting for Sunset, but her excitement faded as a thought popped into her head. Once again, she frowned dejectedly.

Twilight had noticed this, "Sunset Shimmer? Is something wrong? Don't you like the plans we came up with?"

Sunset's head shot back up, "What? Of course I do, and I can't wait to do them all! …It's just, well… There is something super specific I want to do, and I feel like the sooner I do it, the better."

Twilight was concerned, "Oh? Of course, Sunset, we'll do whatever you want to do first."

Taking a deep breath, Sunset confessed, "What I really want to do first… is pay a visit to Princess Celestia."

Twilight and Spike's jaws dropped. "Go see Celestia?" they both exclaimed.

Once again, the air felt awkward. "That's right. It's what I want to do before I do anything else," Sunset explained. "I've already apologized to everyone back at Canterlot High, my friends, and you two. But the one pony I need to apologize to the most is Celestia; I ignored her lessons, I thought I was good enough to be her equal… No, her superior, and I just ran away and abandoned her when she was just trying to help me."

"Yeah, you were kinda terrible," agreed Spike.

Twilight slapped him upside the head with her wing, "Spike!"

"No, Twilight; he's right. I was the worst," Sunset cut in. "But no more. If I ever want to feel like I've truly changed; if I ever want to show you and our friends how much your teachings mean to me, I need to do this. I need to confront my past one last time!"

"All you had to do was ask." Twilight smiled warmly. "Of course we'll take you to Canterlot. I was actually hoping you would want to do this first, but I didn't want to force you into it. We can go first thing tomorrow."

Sunset jumped. "Wait, tomorrow?"

"Of course. You said the sooner the better, and tomorrow is one of Celestia's slow days. No royal duties, no meetings, a completely free schedule. It couldn't be more perfect," beamed Twilight. "Besides, we want you to be able to enjoy your visit with a clear conscience; you deserve that chance after everything that's happened."

Sunset's courage slowly leaked out. But Twilight did have points. In fact, she had nothing BUT points. She had to know one last thing. "Well… ok. But Twilight, could the other girls come with us? I'd feel better doing this knowing they're there too."

"You didn't have to ask that," comforted Twilight, leaning in for a hug. "We all care about you, Sunset Shimmer." Spike joined into the hug, the two of them showing Sunset that everything will be fine. "Now you just settle in; Spike and I are going to get dinner started. Call us if you need anything." With that, Twilight and Spike exited the room, leaving Sunset to make herself at home.

Sunset sighed in relief and started unpacking her saddlebags. "That's taken care of. See that, Sunset? Everything will work out. Your friends will be there to help you, you apologize to Princess Celestia, and you can finally move on with your life knowing you're in a better place now."

"Keep telling yourself that," mocked a devious voice. "Maybe if you say it enough, you'll start believing it."

"Who said that?" Sunset looked around.

"I did," the voice said from behind her. Sunset hesitantly looked back… and saw her reflection staring at her mockingly. "Hello again, Sunset Shimmer. Did you miss me?"

Sunset jumped into a defensive stance, glaring at her reflection. "No! Not you again! I told you to leave me alone!"

"Don't be so silly, Sunset; you know you can't escape your own dirty conscience. I'm a part of you, remember; the part you gave up to make **_friends_**!" The reflection spat that word as though it was venom. "You really think they can make things better?"

"I know they can," Sunset rebutted. "They've saved me from the darkness, and I can't thank them enough for it! And tomorrow, they're going to help me face my past one last time!"

Her reflection just giggled. "Wow, you seven really ARE besties… You're all so blindingly sentimental. You honestly think that old sow Celestia is going to just turn the other cheek at what you've done?"

"How dare you call Celestia a sow! She's one of the best teachers I've ever had!"

"Oh yes, and I'm sure she'll just come off her high horse and give you a big old hug for running away!" Before Sunset could retort, her reflection continued, "But what will she think of all the other stuff you've done to Canterlot High? I mean, breaking so many friendships, forcing your way to the top, setting dear Twilight up for a fall... Oh, and of course…" The cruel reflection's horn glowed brightly, and she morphed into a figure that still haunted Sunset to this day: the demon. "…Turning into a raging she-demon! Oh yes, I'm sure things will work out _just_ fine for you, **_Sunny_**!"

Sunset backed away from the mirror as the reflection just laughed cruelly at her misfortune. Sunset shook her head fiercely, begging and pleading that this cruel vision would leave her alone. She opened her watering eyes, and sighed in relief to see her reflection was back to normal, reflecting her sad and dejected face. All the courage and assurance Sunset felt from the others was squeezed out of her, leaving her once again lost and alone… Just like back in the other world.


	5. Running Away Again and The Search Begins

Sunset didn't have the heart to tell Twilight and Spike about what happened with the reflection. But thankfully, the mocking entity did not bother Sunset for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, that didn't help Sunset sleep any better. She must have gotten at least three or four hours of sleep… If she was lucky. Twilight noticed something wrong with Sunset in the morning, but knowing what a big day they were about to have, she decided not to pressure her.

The train ride to Canterlot was a little better, and the others noticed Sunset looking distant on the train, so they decided to see if they could make her feel better by telling stories of their adventures together. Sunset was amazed at Fluttershy's story of the time she was turned into a bat; she giggled at Pinkie and Applejack's traveling story; she admired Rarity's courage in her tale about the Diamond Dogs; she was awestruck at Rainbow Dash's story from the Wonderbolt's Academy; but Twilight telling about their incident at the Grand Galloping Gala was her all-time favorite story.

"I remember when I had to go to the Gala when I was little… the old me thought it was unbelievably boring," Sunset reminisced.

"Eeyup, well the old you wasn't too far off," Applejack replied.

"It certainly wasn't a night of princes, that's for sure," muttered Rarity.

"Yeah, but then we came around and everything went all crazy and fun-er-iffic!" bounced Pinkie Pie. "Princess Celestia said it was the bestest Grand Galloping Gala EVER!"

Sunset couldn't help giggling, "Wow. Kind of wish I could've gone to that one… maybe skip the Gala and go straight to the donut shop first."

"Yeah, I think we'll remember that for the next gala," Rainbow Dash said awkwardly. The eight of them all laughed loudly, forgetting all their worries, and all Sunset's worries.

"Still, I'm mighty proud of you for finally talking to the Princess, sugarcube," praised Applejack.

"Indeed, darling," agreed Rarity, "we knew this would be a very big step towards making up for your past… Um… Boo-boos."

"Yeah… This is way overdue for me," sighed Sunset, "I just really appreciate you girls coming with me."

"No sweat," replied Rainbow Dash as she reclined in mid-air, "Just think of this as a little bump on our two months of awesome hanging-out-ness! Just get through this, and the rest'll be easy-peasy. No big deal."

Sunset looked solemnly out the window, "Yeah, no big deal. Just the mare I ran away from all those years ago and I'm finally going to apologize for being a raging demon monster. No big deal at all," she muttered.

"Exactly," sang Pinkie, who didn't understand sarcasm sometimes. "Then, I guarantee she's gonna pull you into a big old hug," Pinkie gave Sunset a hug of her own to prove her point. "And then… we PARTY!" a confetti explosion blew up behind her.

Sunset sighed, "I hope you're right, Pinkie. I hope you're right." With that, she stared out the window for the rest of the train ride.

In a matter of hours, they arrived at Canterlot and were already entering the great entrance hall –Sunset trailed a bit behind for obvious reasons. The eight of them saw two royal guards - a unicorn, and a pegasus - approaching them.

The guards bowed to Twilight, "Welcome back to Canterlot, Princess Twilight; friends; Sunset Shimmer," greeted the unicorn guard, not even noticing Sunset. He then jerked his head up in shock when he finally did notice. "Sunset Shimmer?!"

The guards pushed past Twilight's friends and pointed their spears directly at Sunset, "You're not getting away this time, Shimmer," spat the pegasus guard.

"You have no idea how long we've been waiting to catch you! Nopony slips past the royal guards!" yelled the unicorn guard.

"Except for Nightmare Moon, Discord, the changelings, Tirek… actually a LOT of ponies slipped past the royal guards," joked Pinkie Pie.

"Ok, bad example," groaned the unicorn guard. "Still, you're coming with us, and–"

"Stand down right now," thundered Twilight, she flew right in front of Sunset and spread her wings, shielding Sunset. "She's with us!"

The guards were confused, "Excuse us, your highness? You do know this is Sunset Shimmer, right? The troublesome unicorn who ran away from Princess Celestia, and left her an emotional wreck?!"

"Yeesh," Rainbow Dash whispered to Pinkie Pie. "And I thought _we_ laid it on thick." It was true, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash could be careless with their outbursts, but _this_ was ridiculous.

"She's also OUR friend, and we brought her here so she could talk to Princess Celestia," Twilight retorted.

The guards were confused. "No fooling? SHE wants to talk?" the unicorn guard asked.

"Took her long enough," muttered the pegasus guard to his partner. Every time these guards opened their mouths, Sunset's heart was growing heavier and heavier, not that the guards noticed.

Sunset's friends noticed, and they didn't like it. "Just give me five minutes with these guys, that's all I'm asking," Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack.

"Don't be silly, Dash," Applejack whispered back. "Wait until I'm through with 'em!"

At this point, even Twilight was getting annoyed, "Listen, all we want is to speak to Princess Celestia, and we want YOU to escort us to her. And as the Princess of Friendship, I order you to take us there NOW!"

The two guards cowered in fear at Twilight's anger, and hastily bowed, "Of course, your Highness. If the seven of you," Twilight shot a glare, causing them to cower, "Eight of you will just follow us, we'll take you straight to the princess." With reluctant sighs, the two guards trotted up the stairs, the eight friends following behind.

Sunset wiped her eyes to hide her tears. "Thank you," she whispered to Twilight.

"Anything for a friend," Twilight smiled. "Now it's only a brief walk, and it'll be over like that."

"And then we party?" Pinkie looked with pleading eyes.

Twilight and Sunset giggled, "And then we party."

"Yippee!" cheered Pinkie as they followed the guards.

Not too far now, as they all made their way through the hall of stained glass windows. If Sunset didn't have butterflies in her stomach before, she had them now. Luckily, she kept herself distracted by looking at the beautiful artwork.

She admired each one as they passed; Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon, then defeating Discord, Shining Armor and Cadence stopping the Changelings, Spike saving the Crystal Empire, but her admiring stopped as soon as she set eyes on one particular window. It was the window of Twilight becoming a princess. As proud as she was for her friend, seeing her like this, ascending into an Alicorn, brought up some unpleasant memories: Memories of a certain filly screaming at her mentor.

 _"I deserve to stand beside you and be your equal… If not your better! Make me a princess!" demanded Sunset Shimmer._

 _"No," replied Princess Celestia. "Being a princess must be earned… I have been trying to teach you everything you need to know, but you've turned away from it. Sunset Shimmer, I am removing you from the position of my pupil. If we cannot get past this, your studies end here."_

_"We'll never get past this because you aren't seeing how great I deserve to be! This is the biggest mistake you'll make in your entire life!"_

 _"One of many," she heard Princess Celestia say as the guards escorted Sunset out._

 _"I'll make you regret this, Celestia! Nopony denies Sunset Shimmer her destiny! NOPONY!"_

Remembering that day was too much for poor Sunset. "I can't do this," she thought to herself. With the others not watching her, she quietly scooted back, and used her magic to teleport back into the entrance hall. She ran as fast as her hooves would carry her out of the castle; she didn't know where she would go, but anywhere was better than beside the ponies she'd only hurt.

Inside the throne room sat the princesses, Celestia and Luna, engaged in a thrilling game of chess. Celestia and Luna had the white and black pieces respectively. Luna levitated her King from E2 to E3, but Celestia countered with her Bishop from E5 to D4.

"Check, dear sister," Celestia beamed. Luna, not being very good at competitions, just tossed the board away and pouted. The sisters then shared a good laugh as they levitated the board and pieces back on the table.

Before they could play again, two guards trotted in, followed by SIX ponies and a baby dragon. "Your highness," bowed the unicorn guard, "Announcing Princess Twilight Sparkle and company." The six ponies and Spike walked right past them. "Wait, where's Shimmer?" the unicorn whispered to his partner. His partner just shrugged.

This surprised the princesses, "Why Twilight, isn't this a delightful surprise," commented Celestia.

"Is there trouble in Equestria?" Luna asked nervously.

"Oh, nothing's wrong at all," Fluttershy smiled, "quite the opposite, actually."

"In fact, we think this might be the best day EVER!" Pinkie Pie cheered.

"How so?" Celestia grew curious.

Twilight could only smile widely. "Well, Princess," she winked at the others, "we'd like you to say hello to an old friend!" The seven of them stepped out of the way making room for… Nopony.

The princesses were confused. "Um, where is this 'old friend' of yours, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asked.

Twilight and her friends looked back and saw that Sunset was gone. Twilight started to sweat. "Um… will you excuse us for a minute?" Twilight awkwardly backpedaled and pulled her friends into a group huddle, "Where's Sunset Shimmer?" The panic could _clearly_ be heard in her voice.

"I swear, she was right behind us," Rarity panicked. "I looked over, and she was too busy admiring the stunning stained glass windows!"

"Maybe she got too scared to go through with it," whispered Fluttershy. "I know I'd be absolutely terrified if I had to do this."

"But what's she got to be nervous about? We said we'd be here the whole time," grunted Rainbow Dash.

"Well it probably didn't help that _some_ ponies," Rarity glared directly at two certain guards, "decided to maliciously gang up on the poor dear!"

"Maybe she didn't run away," Pinkie Pie thought hopefully. "Maybe she had to use the bathroom."

"Pinkie, that's crazy, who'd be able to find the darn bathroom in a castle this big?" Applejack retorted.

"Do you think she ran back to the train station?" Fluttershy asked.

"She couldn't have, the next train isn't for a few more hours," Twilight remembered.

Spike looked up nervously, "Uh Twilight?"

"Not now Spike," Twilight shrugged him off, "We need to figure out where she went!"

"Where who went?" asked a familiar voice. Twilight turned around to see Celestia staring down at her and jumped back a little. "Twilight," Celestia said sternly, "What is going on here?"

"Tried to warn you," whispered Spike.

Twilight fidgeted her hooves nervously, "Well… you see… what happened is…"

"Sunset Shimmer wrote a letter to Twilight!" Pinkie burst out.

"She said she wanted to stay with us for the next few months!" Fluttershy squeaked next.

"And she gave us gifts!" Rarity exclaimed, "which reminds me, I probably should have worn those darling earrings today if we were visiting the princesses-"

"And we were coming here because she wanted to talk to you about the past!" Applejack admitted.

"But those jerk guards of yours harassed her and we think she might have run off!" Rainbow Dash couldn't keep it in either.

"…Pretty much what they said," Twilight squeaked.

Both princesses were shocked… but Celestia's jaw dropped the hardest, "S-S-Sunset Shimmer?"

"You mean she's here, in Canterlot? Right now?" Luna asked in disbelief.

Twilight plucked up courage, "Yes. But you have to believe us; she's changed! She's a much better po-"

Before she could continue defending her friend, Twilight found herself caught in Celestia's magic aura, "How was she when she got here? Was she all right? Has she been eating well? Why did she run away when she got here?" Celestia fired anxious questions left and right, desperately seeking answers about the wellbeing of her former student.

"Sister," Luna exclaimed, "You must calm yourself. I'm sure she was perfectly fine in the company of Twilight and her friends."

"She was a bit distant and nervous," Twilight explained, "but she was very eager to come here to talk to you."

"Or at least she was before _these_ two," Applejack pointed an angry hoof at the guards, "made her feel lower than an apple worm on a lemon farm!"

Celestia shot an angry glare at the two guards as they shrank under her stare, "I'll deal with you two later." Her voice was chilled and angered, "But for now, everypony must search the area! We must find Sunset Shimmer and bring her back with her friends!"

"Indeed," agreed Luna. "Rarity, Applejack, we'll search the castle halls!" Rarity and Applejack saluted, "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you two search from the skies!"

"We're on it, Princess!" saluted Rainbow Dash.

"We'll do our best," agreed Fluttershy meekly.

"Pinkie Pie, you search the grounds," Celestia continued, "Twilight, Spike, and I will patrol the towers." Everypony saluted in agreement and dashed for the door to start the search.

Twilight stopped short right next to Celestia, "Princess, just so you know, she came back here so she could apologize for all she's done. She missed you very much."

"I know, Twilight," Celestia answered sadly. She covered her eyes with her wings. "But I feel I owe her an apology as well." Twilight wanted to ask what she meant by that, but she figured now wasn't the time. With that, she and Spike followed her mentor out the doors to search for their runaway friend.


	6. Wise Chaotic Words

Sunset Shimmer kept running and fighting the tears until her hooves finally tired out. She collapsed onto the ground just outside the Canterlot Sculpture Garden but found she was too exhausted to keep crying.

"Another brilliant idea as usual, Sunset Shimmer," she said spitefully to herself. "What were you thinking? These ponies… These wonderful ponies are too good for you! Twilight's already got enough problems being a princess without you adding more drama into her life." Turns out she was wrong, there were a few tears left over. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I can't drag you into this, you don't deserve it… maybe I should just–"

 **SCREEEEEEEEECH!**

Before Sunset could finish her thought, a loud screech was heard right above her head. She wiped her eyes, peered up, and gasped in awe. For right above her head, flew a majestic and beautiful red and yellow phoenix. Its feathers rivaled even Celestia's shining sun as it flew through the air with grace and ease.

Sunset immediately recognized this phoenix. "Philomena?" Philomena took one look at Sunset below and smiled widely. She swooped downward towards Sunset, who by instinct held out her hoof as Philomena landed on it. "H-Hey, old girl. I was hoping I'd get to see you," Sunset cooed, giving the phoenix an affectionate nuzzle. Philomena chirped in delight. "Aww, I missed you too, Philomena. I owe you a lot for what you did for me," Sunset sighed happily as she looked at her cutie mark. Then she sighed sadly, "Just wish the old me could've been nicer to you when she had the chance." Philomena didn't like seeing one of her old friends so sad, so she used her wings to wipe Sunset's eyes. Sunset couldn't stay sad in front of Philomena, and just gave another affectionate nuzzle.

Then Sunset noticed something, "Hey, Philomena, you've got something on your back." Philomena looked on her back, and sure enough, there were two strange gray round objects on her back.

Then suddenly, the gray objects opened up, revealing two big yellow eyes. Sunset screamed in terror as the two eyeballs rolled off Philomena's back. In a bright flash of light, the eyeballs disappeared; in their place stood a very familiar draconequus; the master of chaos himself, Discord. Sunset couldn't believe her eyes! Twilight wrote to her about how Fluttershy had reformed Discord, but what was he doing here?

Discord chuckled heartily, "Oh-ho-ho, look at that! I win again, Philomena! I told you I was the hide and seek master!" Philomena pouted and chirped angrily, "Oh, don't give me that sour beak, Philly." Philomena chirped accusingly, "Cheat? How dare you, little Miss! I never cheat at hide and seek!" To prove a point, Discord literally pulled his eyes right out of his head, "I never peaked while my eyes were following you!" Philomena chirped again, Discord gasped, "Does your mother FEED that beak, young lady?!" Philomena only pouted again, "Oh fine. Don't get your feathers in a bunch." As a joke, Discord snapped his eagle claw, causing Philomena's feathers to disappear. "Next time we play, I'LL hide and you'll seek. And I won't cheat." This time, Discord grew three extra sets of arms, "See? Not a claw, talon, paw, or tail crossed." One of the extra hands snapped again, giving Philomena her feathers back. She simply turned her back and blew a raspberry at Discord.

Sunset's jaw simply dropped in awe and her lip quivered. "You're D-D-Discord," was all she managed to say.

Discord's extra arms disappeared and he sighed, "Oh joy, another pony to introduce myself to." Discord then stuck his claw in his 'pockets' and felt around until he pulled out some flashcards. He started reading from one.

" _Hello, [insert name of pony here]; my name is Discord, also known as the Master of Chaos,_ " he demonstrated by holding an inside-out umbrella under a cotton candy raincloud, " _And the newest bestest friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle and company,_ " he used his magic to summon plush toys of Twilight and her friends and gave them a big hug.

Discord then snapped his fingers, turning the plush toys all into Fluttershy plush toys, "Just between the two of us, I'm mostly Fluttershy's friend," He hugged the Fluttershy plushes tightly.

Sunset couldn't help but smile at Discord's antics, as random as they were, "Um… hi, Discord. I'm-"

"Ooh, don't tell me," Discord interrupted, conjuring a magnifying glass, "I love guessing games." He looked all over Sunset Shimmer with his magnifying glass. He looked from side-to-side, underneath, in her mouth, he even shrunk down and snaked his way into her ear, popping out on the other side. She really didn't like that one. "A-ha! I knew I recognized you," Discord announced at last. "You're Sunset Shimmer; Celestia's little pupil who took off. Oooh, I haven't seen you in years."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, "Wait, you knew me before? But last time I saw you, you were–"

"Yes, yes, I was forced to trade in my free reign for stone prison cuffs," Discord locked his hands into stone blocks to emphasize his point. "But, fun fact, being turned to stone doesn't take away my ability to see and hear everything around me. I'll never forget the time Celestia showed a certain adorable filly to my part of the garden. She took one look at me and said I was a 'hideously beastly mess!'" Discord shot a mock glare at Sunset, not knowing how much it hurt her.

"Oh… now I remember that. I'm sorry, Discord… I'll just go, I won't bother you anymore," she said with her head lowered. But before she could trot away–

"What? Oh-ho, don't be silly," chuckled Discord, "I'm way over that. I just said it to remind myself of how much you've changed and became an inspiration!"

This made Sunset stop in her tracks, "Wait, an inspiration?"

"Of course, after Twilight told me about you, I've been positively BURSTING to meet you!" Discord snapped his claw, and Sunset appeared in his arm. Then he snapped his paw and a camera floated right in front of them. "Ooh, say 'friendship!'" He grabbed onto Sunset's lips to force them into a smile while he pouted his lips, the camera flashed, and printed a picture of the two. "Another perfect picture," he cackled, "I can't wait to show this to Fluttershy, we're making a scrapbook!"

Sunset wiggled free out of Discord's grasp, "Ok, just back up for a second; I'M an inspiration for YOU?"

"Well of course! Don't tell me you don't remember; you went from a bossy, manipulative, conniving, raging she-demon into a heroic young rock star," Discord leaped into the air and landed on his knees, strumming the air like an air guitar.

Sunset giggled again, "Well, I wouldn't really say rock star…"

"Are you kidding? The way you took down those sirens! Ingenious!" Discord praised, "Good thing too; I'm not really into pop music. I prefer show tunes." Discord snapped his claw again, and he gained a barbershop singer's outfit and cane. He then danced and spun the cane giddily to an old-timey tune; Sunset clapped her hooves as he took his bow.

Sunset felt a little better, but not by much. "Yeah, it was fun being able to restore friendships… Instead of always breaking them."

"Tell me about it," Discord scoffed. "I can't even remember why I wanted to drive a wedge in ponies! All it did was make them all grumpy and pouty… and in Pinkie Pie's case, a little scary too. And what's fun about any of that?"

Sunset sighed sadly. "I don't know, why don't you ask my old me?" Philomena only nuzzled Sunset again.

The wheels turned in Discord's head and he got the message; something was wrong with her. He snapped his claw again, and the two of them disappeared, only to re-appear inside a brightly lit office with a large couch, a table, and a chair. Sunset found herself lying on the couch, while Discord sat in the chair with a clipboard, wearing a grey suit. Philomena sat on the table, and Discord grabbed onto one of her feathers and plucked it right out. Philomena didn't like that one bit.

Discord started writing on his clipboard with Philomena's feather. "Now, Miss Shimmer, I'm sensing you have some emotional problems that are buried deep in that fiery head of yours."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Not really, but Fluttershy's taught me a thing or two," Discord smirked proudly. "So tell me, what has you down?"

Sunset had a feeling she wouldn't be able to escape Discord anytime soon, so she just sighed. "I don't know… it just feels like every time I try to remind myself that I'm in a better place now, something from my past just comes back to haunt me!" Discord listened with interest… while playing tic-tac-toe on the clipboard. "I keep talking about wanting to make up for it, to prove that I'm finally in a better place! But look at me, my one shot to finally talk to Celestia and make everything right… And I blew it! I was too scared to even make it a few feet to the door and I just ran away from my past… Again!

"I owe everything to my friends, especially Twilight, I wouldn't have had the courage to come back here without them… but they make it sound like this is easy for me to do, and the last thing I want to do is let them down… Tartarus knows I've done enough of that as it is."

Discord raised an eyebrow, "I see… Well who exactly have you let down?"

"I ultimately failed Celestia as a student, remember?" Sunset didn't mean to sound cruel to Discord. "Sorry."

Discord shrugged, "Meh, I've heard worse. Anyways, don't let the jacket fool you, I am NOT a therapist-"

"Gee. I never would have guessed." Sunset rolled her eyes.

Discord snapped his paw and the room and chairs disappeared, placing the three back outside. "But I'd say that you're afraid Celestia's going to take your apology and stomp it into the ground."

"Well, can you blame me?!" Sunset burst out. "I wouldn't blame her if she did, I've been nothing but horrible to her even after all she's done for me! After how awful I've been, how can I expect anypony to forgive me like that?"

"Maybe the same way your friends forgave you?"

"And that's the other thing," Sunset continued, "Twilight… even after everything I did to her, after I set her up for a fall, the minute she and the others blast the magic of friendship into me, she offered me friendship and told the others to look out for me. It took a little longer for the others to forgive me, but they didn't give up on me once, and were there for me when no one else was. Why would they keep me around?"

"Same reason they kept me around when I had a major fall," Discord answered solemnly. Sunset stared in shock when he said that. "Look, I'm not gonna pretend any of that makes sense… because face it, what fun is there in making sense? But some ponies, or bodies, or whatever they call your friends in the other world, are more forgiving than others. And the only pony who still can't forgive you, is you." Discord snapped his tail and a mirror appeared in front of Sunset.

Sunset recoiled in fright. "No, please, I don't want to look in another mirror! The last one only showed the old me… Making fun of me!" Sunset shielded her eyes.

Discord was confused by this… Then something clicked, "Oops… I uh… I think that might have been my fault."

"How is it your fault my old self won't leave me alone?"

"Well… When I was helping Twilight decorate her castle… I might have accidentally given her one of my trick mirrors."

"Trick mirrors?"

"Eeyup, it shows anypony it reflects what they're most afraid of… Uh, oopsies?" Discord smiled sheepishly.

Sunset's eyes couldn't grow any larger at this point. That terrifying reflection that mocked her, all those worries from last night, all of that was because of Discord?! Sunset breathed heavily trying harder and harder to keep herself from snapping and yelling right at Discord's face. She forced one eye open and saw how sorry Discord looked, and how he literally shrunk under her gaze. Her inner anger subsided and she sighed calmly.

"No; it's okay, Discord. I know you didn't mean to do that. It was an accident," she said calmly, and she meant every word.

Discord beamed happily and returned to his normal size, "Aha! I knew it! You just proved my point!"

Sunset was confused, "What point?"

"That you're no different from Twilight, Fluttershy, OR Celestia! Even after I epically screwed up, you still forgave me! Congratulations, Sunset Shimmer," he snapped his paw causing a scroll to appear, "You just made my friends list!" He then conjured a sticker in the shape of Sunset's head, and stuck it onto the list right next to Twilight and her friends. "I'm still working on expanding this list. But anywho, looks like the only one you have to forgive is yourself. And don't pretend you don't know how to do it."

"I do know," Sunset sighed. "But–"

"It's your choice, Sunny. You could go back in there, apologize to Celestia, let it sting for a brief moment, have a tear-jerking moment only to get interrupted by one of Twilight's friendship speeches, and finally get some closure," Discord snapped his tail, and Sunset was transformed back into her form from the other world, "or you could run back to the other world, and let it eat away at you that you were too scared to finally face that horrible past that's been haunting you for years."

In his own blunt way… Discord did have a _lot_ of good points. Sunset looked at her other worldly reflection and thought about her friends. She thought about her friends back at Canterlot High, she thought of her new friends here in Equestria, but most of all she thought of Twilight and Celestia, the first mares who ever offered her friendship. She knew what she had to do… and so did Discord, who smiled knowingly and turned her back into her pony form.

Sunset smiled again. "You know, you have a weird way of helping ponies."

Discord smirked. "Not what ponies expect, but it gets the job done. Anyways, just wait right here, I'll be right back," Discord snapped both his hands, and popped like a party balloon, leaving behind some confetti.

"Wait, Discord, what are you…?" Sunset just grew nervous. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to get what I asked for?"


	7. Reunited and a New Teacher

Sunset sat there with Philomena, waiting for Discord to come back like he said he would. She was still nervous about where he could have gone, but most of all, she was thinking about what she would tell the other when they found her. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to think about it too long because right above her flashed a bright white light and her seven friends appeared right in mid-air. They screamed when they realized where they were, and each plummeted to the ground.

Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed her head. "What just happened?"

Twilight picked herself up. "I think I have an idea… DISCORD!"

"You called?" Discord grinned mischievously as he floated down right next to the seven.

"Now, Discord," Fluttershy scolded gently, "remember what we talked about teleporting us without asking?"

"Yeah, only in case of emergencies, or if I want to teleport ponies to an awesome surprise party," Pinkie added.

"Oh but this _is_ an emergency, my little ponies," Discord smirked knowingly. "I believe you lost somepony."

He gestured to Sunset who just rubbed her hooves awkwardly. "Uh… hi, guys," she said awkwardly.

"Sunset Shimmer!" The seven friends immediately ran up to Sunset and pulled her into a tight group hug, which she did not resist.

"Darling, why did you take off like that?" Rarity asked. "We were worried sick about you."

"Yeah, we looked everywhere for you," Pinkie added in her hyper fashion. "We looked in the bathrooms, and the hallways, and the dance floors, and the swimming pool…"

"They have a swimming pool?" Applejack was curious.

"Yep, and I _maaaay_ or may not have jumped in and played Marco Pony to see if I could get Sunset to come out," Pinkie smiled sheepishly.

"I think what we want to know most of all is, Sunset, are you ok?" Twilight draped a wing over Sunset's shoulder.

"Yes, I'm ok now. And I'm sorry for running out like that, everypony. It's just…"

"We understand, Sunset," Fluttershy interrupted."This is one of the scariest things you've ever had to do… But we weren't making it easy saying how easy it was going to be."

"Truth be told, sugarcube, we have no idea what it was like for you to go through all this," Applejack sympathized. "We just wanted to make you feel better about having to go through with it."

Sunset could only smile. "No, it's ok, really. I know all your hearts were in the right places. I guess I was just so scared… I forgot that I had all of you to have my corner… Which I could really use now."

"Well duh," Rainbow Dash smirked. "Of course we've got your corner. Hello, we came all the way out here with you, didn't we?"

"We won't leave your side for a second, darling," encouraged Rarity. "We know this won't be easy–"

"But we know you can do it, Sunny! And then, after you and Princess hug it out, we can finally PARTY!" Pinkie cheered.

Sunset sighed and smiled one last time, "Ok… For real, I'm ready."

"Oh, that reminds me," Discord said knowingly. "I forgot some ponies." He snapped his claw one more time, and Princesses Celestia and Luna appeared in another flash of light, right in front of the others.

Celestia gathered herself. "Discord, what is the meaning of–" She opened her eyes and gasped… And for the first time since all those years ago, Sunset and Celestia's eyes met face to face. Their faces mirrored each other perfectly: Their eyes as wide as dinner plates, their jaws dropped and quivering, and a wet shine glazed over their eyes. Neither one dared to break eye contact.

Twilight awkwardly cleared her throat to break the awkward silence, "Like we were saying before, Princess Celestia, say hello to an old friend." Twilight gestured her hoof towards Sunset. "Move back a bit, ponies," she whispered to her friends. "Give them some space." Everypony stepped back a little to give the two enough space, but still stayed close to comfort them both.

Celestia, still shocked, finally spoke. "S-S-Sunset Shimmer," was all she could manage.

"Princess Celestia…" Sunset was at a loss of words too, but she respectfully bowed on instinct.

This shocked Celestia even more, she couldn't remember the last time she had seen Sunset bowed like this. "Sunset… my little pony… my little Sunset."

That did it; the dam had burst, the tears were now flowing out of Sunset's eyes, she couldn't contain herself anymore. She galloped right towards Celestia and wrapped her hooves around her former mentor's neck, clinging on as if her very life depended on it. Nopony dared to breathe a word as she clung to her mentor's neck and sobbed into her chest.

Her voice was sad and broken by her hysterical sobbing, but she didn't care. "I'm sorry, Princess! I'm so, so sorry! I should never have left you! You didn't deserve any of it! I'd take it back if I could! I'd take everything I said back! I'd… I'd…"

"Shhh. It is alright, Sunset. I'm here now. Everything will be okay," Celestia whispered to Sunset comfortingly, gently rubbing her back. Her tears were quieter than Sunset's, but she didn't try to stop them as she held her former student close like she wanted to all those years ago.

Meanwhile, Twilight, her friends, and even Discord were shedding tears of joy of their own… though Rarity, Pinkie, and Discord's cries were a bit more hysterical and almost comical in light of the situation.

"Never thought I'd see the Master of Chaos cryin'," Applejack teased.

"I'm not crying," Discord sniffled. "It's… liquid pride. Everypony does it"

Luna smiled approvingly at Twilight, "You know, Twilight, I do believe you've made a nice habit out of it."

"A habit of what?" Twilight wiped her eyes.

"A habit of helping ponies face their past," Luna answered. Nopony else could bear to speak as Celestia and Sunset stayed in their embrace; they all just watched happily at the touching reconnecting before them.

After an hour, the 12 of them returned inside the castle throne room. Celestia and Sunset had finally calmed down, but Luna stayed by her sister's side and Philomena perched on her shoulder; Pinkie had wrapped Sunset into a tight hug and didn't let go once as they all made their way inside.

Fluttershy put her hoof on Sunset's shoulder, "Are you feeling any better, Sunset? …Um, if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm feeling _way_ better, Fluttershy. Just glad to get all that out of my system." Sunset smiled lightly, then turned to a certain hugging pink mare. "Pinkie Pie, you can stop hugging me now. I'll be ok."

"Awww," pouted Pinkie, "Can't I stay like this for a few more seconds?" A blue and violet aura answered her question, as Twilight and Rarity used their magic to levitate her off of Sunset. Rarity then gave her bubbly friend a pat on the shoulders for caring for her friend.

Twilight approached her fellow princesses, "What about you, Princess Celestia? Are you okay?"

Celestia gently rubbed her eyes with her wing. "I assure you, Twilight, I've felt worse. In fact, tonight you and your friends have once again made me feel better than I've felt in days."

"They made me feel better than I ever felt in years," Sunset added. She looked up at Celestia sadly. "I know I've said it already, but I'm…"

Celestia gently placed a hoof over Sunset's mouth, "Please, child; I think you've apologized more than enough… In fact, it is I that owes you the apology."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rainbow Dash interjected. "No offense, your majesty, but what've you got to apologize for?"

"Yeah, why should you apologize?" Sunset was confused, "I was the one who ran away."

"That may be," Celestia lowered her head, "But in a way, I drove you to run away." Celestia solemnly turned away and started explaining what she meant.

"You see, banishing your best and oldest friend to the moon does not come without feelings of remorse and sorrow. After I banished my sister, I made a personal vow that I would never let what happened to her happen to anypony else. Most of all, that if I ever took on a student, I would not allow them to be consumed by the dark side. Of course, I never counted that I would get a student as ambitious or eager as you.

"I saw that you had dreams, BIG dreams. Dreams that seemed a little too big for a filly at your age," Sunset blushed and looked away, but Celestia continued. "I could have been a better teacher; I could've shown you a much better outlet for your energy, hooves-on, and I could have done a better job of steering you to a better life… but I didn't. I drove you away and let you go into that other world alone where you could have gotten hurt. It's not every millennia that a princess fails TWO of the most important ponies in her life." Celestia dropped her head downwards so nopony could see the one lone tear trailing down. Luna and Philomena saw the tear, and started nuzzling her from both sides.

Sunset picked herself up. "Princess, I had no idea you felt that way about me running away."

"I never made it clear how I really felt, my little Sunset." Celestia turned to face her subjects. "But just like Twilight, you were always like a daughter to me… And I should never have let you go."

Rainbow Dash couldn't stop her tears. "Darn it! I thought we were done liquid pride-ing!"

Twilight wiped her eyes and stepped up. "If I may, I think I can settle this." Celestia, Sunset, and their friends listened. "Mistakes were made, we all know that, but it doesn't mean either one of you are bad ponies. You made mistakes, I made mistakes, everypony makes mistakes." Twilight's friends nodded and looked away awkwardly. "But what's important is that we learn something from our past to make us the better ponies we want to be."

Discord whispered to Spike, "Do you think she practices these lessons in a mirror?" Spike just shrugged as they both grabbed a dog biscuit from Spike's box.

Celestia smiled at her fellow princess, "You still surprise me everyday, Twilight Sparkle. And you're right; we cannot change the past, but the future is what we wish it to be." Celestia pulled both her students close with her wings, "But Sunset, I must ask about you saying you'd take everything back."

Sunset grew nervous again. "Yes, Princess?"

"I know you regret what you've done, but in a way I am actually glad they occurred."

"R-really? How could you be glad about all the horrible stuff I've done?"

"Because, my little pony, without the events of your past, you never would have discovered the magic of friendship as the rest of us have."

Sunset's friends all smiled at her. "I guess you're right," Sunset smiled back. "I never would have had the courage to come here if it wasn't for my friends."

"A-hem!" Discord cleared his throat loudly as a halo appeared over his head.

Sunset giggled, " _All_ my friends, including Discord."

Fluttershy flew up beside Discord. "You did a good thing today, Discord."

Rainbow Dash joined them. "Yeah, not bad for a former manipulative creep."

"Oh you say the sweetest things, Rainbow Dash," teased Discord. "But seriously, I felt I at least owed it to a fellow reformed villain, right?" He smiled knowingly at Sunset, who smiled back. "Well, I think it's about time I head off. I've got a house to mow and a lawn to paint, you know how it is." He handed Fluttershy the picture he took with Sunset, "Be sure to add this to our scrapbook; it's a keeper." Fluttershy nodded eagerly.

"Discord wait," Sunset called out, "Think I'll get to see you again while I'm here?"

"Oh I have the feeling you'll see me a lot, Sunny; sometimes when you don't want me around." Discord winked. "Until next time, arrivederci everypony!" With that, Discord snapped his paw and disappeared back home.

"Awww," moaned Pinkie Pie, "I wanted to ask if he wanted to come to our Sunset Shimmer party afterwards."

"Either way, the past is behind us all," Luna smiled, "and we couldn't be happier for your return to Equestria, Sunset Shimmer." The princesses bowed, and Sunset bowed back.

"And should you ever need anything while you are here," Celestia continued, "You need only ask."

Sunset pondered for a bit, then an idea popped into her head. "Actually, Princesses, there was one more thing I wanted to ask." She motioned the two to come in closer; she whispered her request to the two of them. Both princesses looked on in surprise, they looked at each other and smiled warmly.

Celestia then trotted right up to Twilight with the warmest of smiles, "Well, Twilight, Sunset seems to have an interesting proposal, and we all feel you're ready for the next step of being a princess."

"The next step?" Twilight was confused, "What is the next step?"

"Teaching your very own student." Celestia and Luna stepped aside, so now Sunset and Twilight were staring straight at each other.

The gears turned in Twilight's head… and her heart pounded harder than ever in her chest.

"S-Sunset? You… you want to be my… my…"

"That's right, Twilight," finished Sunset. "It only makes sense; you were the pony who saved me from myself, you made sure I was being taken care of when you had to go home, and you encouraged me try my hardest to beat the Dazzlings, and you answered all my letters when I wrote to you in the journal. In a way, I was already your student by writing you those letters."

Spike smirked proudly, "Told you so."

"I can't thank you enough for all you've done, but I hope this is a good start." Sunset respectfully bowed again, "So, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I would be honored if you could teach me more about friendship while I am here."

This was all too much for Twilight; she started to wobble and sway dizzily, "My… my… my very own student and it's Sun…" Finally, the overwhelmed Twilight fell to the ground and passed out.

Everypony was alarmed. "Maybe this was a bad idea," sighed Sunset.

That's what she thought, until a few seconds later, Twilight was standing upright again, with a gigantic grin that stretched from ear to ear. "I GET TO HAVE MY VERY FIRST STUDENT!" Twilight squealed loudly, she then leaped straight at Sunset, pulling her into a huge bear hug. "Oh this is so exciting! All my time as a princess I've been wondering what it's like to have my own student, somepony else I can teach everything I know about friendship! And I can write my own quizzes, and grade papers, and even read essays just like a REAL TEACHER! And who better to teach than one of my best friends ever! Oh this is the best news ever, I'M GOING TO BE SUNSET SHIMMER'S TEACHER!"

Sunset wiggled a bit in Twilight's grip, but she couldn't help smiling at Twilight's enthusiasm. "So, I can count that as a yes?"

Twilight giggled awkwardly, "Um… yes." But as she let go of Sunset, it hit her, "Oh, my gosh… I'm going to be a teacher!" Her friends knew that it was panicking time for Twilight. "Oh no…. I don't know the first thing about being a teacher! What if I grade an assignment wrong! What if I have to teach something even I don't know! What if I fall behind of my friendships and my lesson plan! What do I do?! I CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!"

"Uh, ahem," Applejack pointed out teasingly. "Ya ain't exactly gonna do this alone, sugarcube. You'll still have us." She, and the rest of Twilight's friends smiled reassuringly, as if to show Twilight and Sunset that everything will be ok.

"Yeah, you didn't think you'd have to do this all by yourself, did you? You know we always got your back," Rainbow Dash added.

"Plus, this is so fun-er-iffic! Now it's like we're ALL teachers," Pinkie cheered.

"There's so much we can teach Sunset about friendship too," Fluttershy added.

"Plus, I think it might be delightful to have another regular unicorn in our group," Rarity awkwardly added.

"...Pretty much what they said," Spike fidgeted awkwardly.

"Thank you girls," Twilight smiled, calming down.

"Thanks from both of us," Sunset added, and once again found herself pulled into a group hug, surrounded by her seven friends/teachers.

As Celestia and Luna looked on, Philomena chirped something into Celestia's ear. Celestia smiled. "Well, Sunset, it looks like Philomena has an idea for your very first assignment." She then levitated a small box from behind to Sunset, and inside the box was a beautiful orange and yellow egg with a fiery pattern on its shell.

Sunset gasped in amazement. "Is that… a phoenix egg?"

"Consider it a gift from an old friend. Your fiery passion in what you did DID land you into trouble when you were younger, but it also gave me Philomena." Philomena nuzzled Celestia's cheek. And we hope your passion and rediscovered compassion will give this little egg the home it deserves."

Sunset looked at the little egg in the box and smiled warmly. "I'll give this baby phoenix the best home it'll ever have, Princess." She held the box close, as everypony else smiled at the tender moment, happy for their friend.

Then, Sunset turned to her friends and smirked, "Well, now that I'm officially a student, I think there's only one thing left to do; right, Pinkie Pie?"

Pinkie Pie's grin stretched halfway across her face, "I thought nopony was gonna ask!" Pinkie pulled out her patented party cannon, and a large explosion of confetti burst out of it. Before anypony knew it, the whole room was covered in balloons, streamers, tables full of tasty goodies, and even a record player.

Sunset raised an eyebrow, "How does she fit all that into one cannon?"

"It's Pinkie Pie, sometimes it's better if you don't ask questions," Spike replied.

Luna looked apprehensively around, "This IS all very impressive, but are you certain it is wise to have a celebration in the throne room?"

"Oh come now, Luna; it has been a long time since we've celebrated one's return," Celestia winked at Luna, "and this is _definitely_ a cause for celebration."

"Whoo-hooo! SUNSET SHIMMER'S WELCOME-BACK-TO-EQUESTRIA PAAARTAAAAY!" cheered Pinkie Pie as she zoomed over to the record player and dropped the needle. Out of the record player blasted a loud upbeat musical tune. The rhythm of the tune was so infectious, most of the ponies couldn't resist dancing to the tune; and nopony danced harder than Pinkie Pie or Celestia.

Sunset and Twilight didn't join the others on the dance floor just yet, "You do realize that as your new teacher, I take all school assignments VERY seriously," Twilight explained, trying to sound authoritative… It didn't work.

Sunset only giggled. "I don't mind, really. Can't be any harder than what I've already been through. …But we can still do all that other fun stuff you and the girls came up with?"

Twilight beamed. "Well duh! The girls and I keep coming up with even more fun stuff we can do while you're here. And I am NOT letting you miss the Star Swirl traveling museum! They're going to display all the vials he used when he was mixing the potions that cured the Clydesdale fur blight epidemic!"

Sunset was excited again. "No way!"

"No kidding!"

Both unicorns squealed loudly and excitedly.

Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly. "But seriously, I only have one major assignment; every lesson you learn about friendship, I want you to write them down in your journal… I MAY or may not have a term paper ready by the end of the summer."

Sunset rolled her eyes, "I'll write down everything you tell me. In fact, I already have an idea for my first entry."

"Oh? And what's that?"

" _Letting go of the past is never easy,_ " Sunset began reciting, " _but your friends will make sure you never have to do it alone._ "

Twilight smiled in approval. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Pinkie Pie bounced up and grabbed a hold of their hooves. "What're you silly fillies waiting for? We've still got a whole lot of partying to do!"

Twilight and Sunset just giggled and joined their friends on the dance floor. The last two days had been rocky, but none of that mattered now. For now, Sunset Shimmer was enjoying having a clear conscience and dancing with her friends. She was going to miss her friends back at Canterlot High while they're away on break, but she was going to enjoy spending time with her friends in Equestria –old and especially new.

The End …for now.


End file.
